Focus on local league

Suva and Ba players battle for the ball. Suva won 1-0 at the ANZ Stadium over the weekend. Picture: ATU RASEA

THE World Cup is over and for the local football enthusiast, the focus now turns to the domestic league competition.

It would be cruel to compare what we just witnessed with what is on offer at home. It's simply incomparable.

Nadi won the opening tournament of the season the Vodafone Fiji FACT beating Suva 1-0 in the final at Ratu Cakobau Park in Nausori, a fortnight ago.

The Jetsetters looked depleted in the group stage of the tournament but in a week, made an excellent turnaround in performance to bash Ba in the semi-final before beating the in-form Suva team to defend the FACT title.

Over the weekend, Nadi faced Rewa in the National Football League competition and lost 1-3.

It's quite amusing to see a team, which had just humbled the giants of Fiji soccer to win a major title, losing to a team which failed to make the top four in that tournament.

It translates to either Rewa had learnt its lessons and have been working hard to improve on its weaknesses or Nadi went overboard with the celebration and forget we just got into season.

Labasa, which finished third in the tournament, lost 1-2 to Lautoka which was a shocker in the Fiji FACT. Inconsistency has plagued Fiji football and its something we need to improve on if Fiji Football really wants progress to the next "level".

Emoni made an excellent point on Monday. He said it's the mentality of the players that needs to change.

He said players sometimes gave all they had to win a single fight, forgetting about the war they were in.

Both Nadi and Labasa had their explanations for the loss but it still can't overshadow the fact that they just turned chumps from champs within two weeks.

Suva on the other hand have emerged the most consistent team this season beating Ba 1-0 at home on Sunday.

Apparently Ba has filed a protest against Suva and it will be interesting to know the basis of their complaint.

The Capital City side seems a serious contender for the national league title and its unbeaten streak so far speaks volumes of their ambitious attempt.

Quote of the week:

"Looking at Ba, I think their defence was weak and that is what I told the boys. We got that one goal and we could have scored more. But we have to keep the momentum because the remaining games are important for us if we want to win the league," Suva coach Gurjit Singh said after beating Ba.